Valentine smirked as one his board members sighed in defeat. "I thought I'd have the best chance if I choose nine Stand users to sponsor. I can't believe all of them were taken out before we even hit Nevada." "That's the issue you all seem to have," Valentine said, "You just went for the first person confirmed to be a Stand user. I, on the other hand, decided to be more choosy." "Don't think you're the only one with that logic," the chairman said, "I too took the time to find the strongest Stand user I could. We'll see if your team can match his power."

Heading through Calvada Springs, Team Kujo quickly found themselves near another group of racers. One of these racers had a Stand that looked like a humanoid dragon wearing a pilot's uniform, and he seemed to be floating across the concrete. "Outta my way, suckers!," the man, Fred McCloud, said, "My Stand, Little Wyvern, let's me repel a certain amount of gravity, enough that I don't have to worry about friction while racing. There's no one that can catch up to me!"

"Allow me to test that theory!," Radames called out, "Sun Goes Up!" McCloud suddenly found himself heavier, far heavier than his Stand could counteract. Radames then found himself having to dodge as another racer with a Stand, this one a werewolf-looking humanoid, tried to take out his tires. "Ah, I knew this was a bad time to race," the racer said, "I'm Billy Dieringer. My Stand's name is Mad Wolf. It's a fearsome fighter, but it's base strength gets enhanced depending on the current phase of the moon. Unfortunately, today is a New Moon, so Mad Wolf is at its weakest."

"Too bad," Sanji said as he pulled up, "Because our Stands are still running on all cylinders." Reverse Rebirth came in racing on its caterpillar treads, which it used to smack Mad Wolf in the face, the imprint appearing on Dieringer's face as well. The resulting impact caused him to wipe out. "That's our route clear," Sadao noted, "On to Las Vegas. And no casinos guys." "Never crossed my mind," James quipped, "Still, if one of the steel balls is anywhere, it'll be in Las Vegas. Valentine wouldn't pass up the chance to leave it in such a high profile city along the course."

Once within the Las Vegas limits, problems cropped up again. Just like in San Francisco, police seemed to swarm out of nowhere, blaring about stopping a so-called street race and seemingly ignoring that they were interfering with a legally sanctioned event. And civilian traffic was everywhere, making it harder to navigate. Several of the officers, and racers, got big surprises when a school of piranhas, seen only by Team Kujo, took out their tires. The piranhas seemed to be able to swim through the air like it was the water.

The school gathered near another racer and transformed into a pink and cyan nereid, a humanoid female with amphibious features. "Another Stand," Sadao realized, "I should have figured." "So there's more on this track," the racer said, "I'm Kate Yarborough. You've met my Stand, Super Piranha. It can turn into an entire school of piranhas. And you know how deadly piranhas can be. Luckily, they only attack what I want them to." She directed them to attack, but James can in to intercept. "Ride On Right Time!"

Ride On Right Time emerged and started slashing, but the piranhas seemed able to dodge. "You won't be slicing them into sashimi that easily," Yarborough bragged. But then she started feeling hot, and James grinned. "Maybe I can't slice them up, but I can dry them out. As Ride On Right Time attacks, the nearby temperature starts to rise. Individually attacking each piranha won't cause you damage, but burning them all at once will." Yarborough soon fainted from the heat, dispelling Super Piranha and causing her to wipe out.

Shortly afterward, the group found themselves safely at the rest stop, the police seeming to have vanished. "I'm not sure what sort of Stand power is causing this," James said, "But it's really gonna cause confusion among the ordinary racers." Sadao nodded. "No doubt. But hey, here's the next steel ball." "And I'll thank you to hand it over," said another voice. Sadao jumped away as a giant anchor smashed into the ground near him. "Looks like we got another one to deal with before leaving."

The man who appeared showed a purple humanoid stand with a number of tubes going through it. "I aim to win this contest and that prize money," the man said, "Name's Bobby Zoda. And with the help of my Stand, Death Anchor, I intend to stomp out all the competition." He proved his point by conjuring a large pool of water that rose up around him, letting him move easier to attack with Death Anchor's primary weapon, the titular anchor. At first it looked like he nailed Sadao, but his smile was cut short when Sadao said, "Just where are you aiming?"

"But how?," Zoda asked. "My own Stand let's me duplicate myself," Sadao explained, "The copies aren't as durable as a human, but they look so identical even a blood test couldn't tell us apart. I've honestly considered using these clones to stay at home while also going on tour, but they disappear when my Stand gets too far from them." He leapt into the air as Death Anchor made another attack. "And by the way, that's not my only power. Now then... Let's play that sweet electric jazz!"

Gotta Keep It Real launched its electric attack, which really hit Zoda hard thanks to the water he was using the maneuver. Able to get in close, Gotta Keep It Real cut off the anchor from Death Anchor's hand. "Let me give you my trumpet solo!," Sadao called out, "Gotta Keep It Real!" Gotta Keep It Real sliced over and over into Death Anchor. "PARAHPARAHPARAHPARAHPARAHPARAHPARAHPARAH! PAHPARAH!" Sadao finished off with a quick flying kick that sent Death Anchor and Zoda into the nearby wall.

"Gotta Keep It Real only cuts what I want it to cut," Sadao assured him, "Your wounds are only skin deep, but the pain will keep you down for a while." However, Zoda started getting up again. "I... Can fight... Through the pain... My Stand... Increases my production... Of adrenaline and dopamine..." He cried out as Gotta Keep It Real sliced through him. "In that case," Sadao said, "I've no choice but to paralyze you to stop your assault." Gotta Keep It Real had sliced through just enough of Zoda spinal cord to paralyze his legs without cutting through his spine or anything around it, and without crippling him for life. Sadao then picked up the green steel ball. "That's two we've gotten. Let's move on."

With both Sunset and Sadao now clear from disqualification, and only needing to cross the finish line to earn their cut, the race was now on to stay ahead long enough to get the rest of Team Kujo the same privilege. And so they headed through Nevada's Valley of Fire, hoping to reach the next stop that had a steel ball to claim. Traveling across the streets, they soon found themselves catching up to what looked like a giant bird flying parallel to the race track. From the transparent look, it was clearly a Stand power.

Inside the giant bird was a racer by the name of Jack Allison, who was using his Stand, Astro Robin, a humanoid robin in a tight blue jumpsuit, to glide across the race course. The bird itself was a manifestation of this gliding power, but it was only an illusion and couldn't be used to knock away obstacles or rivals in spite of its size. This was unfortunate as Ryusei came pulling up to Allison. "Time Judged All!" Ryusei was lifted into the air by his Stand's flying powers, Time Judged All grabbing the bike to lift it as well.

Allison only had enough time to gasp in shock as Ryusei came down with Time Judged All's talons to knock him off his bike. "Heads up, Ryusei!," Rudy called out, "That guy wasn't the only Stand user out on this course!" Sure enough, another racer was coming up on the group, surrounded by a phantasmal tyrannosaurus head that chomped down periodically as it approached. This was Rex Pearson with his Stand Big Fang, a humanoid tyrannosaurus that was making the larger head.

Instantly Radames and Sunset used their Stands to stop the giant jaws, while Rudy had Power To Tearer freeze Pearson's engine, stopping him outright. "We're almost out of Nevada at just over four-thousand kilometers to New York," Sadao noted, "But it looks like the competition is just starting to heat up." "I never imagined Stand powers could be so varied," Rudy said, "Then again, I've only seen one other Stand during my lifetime. None of my friends on the streets have one, save for one small friend who did."

Valentine watched as his chosen team made their way through Moapa Valley. "They're nearing the end of Nevada," he noted. "We've confirmed they have two of the steel balls needed to win the competition," his secretary confirmed. Valentine nodded. "Good. My predictions were accurate. I knew investing in as many team members as there were spheres was a wise choice. We've confirmed our company can pay all eight of them should they win?" "Yes sir," the secretary replied, "All sponsors for the event have weighed in. We're fully prepared to pay out the full twenty-five million to each of them upon completion." Valentine smiled. This was good news, since he hated to break promises.

The battle cry for Gotta Keep It real is basically the onomatopoeia for a trumpet playing, which I thought was fitting for a jazz musician since trumpets are one of the quintessential jazz instruments.